


Blood of the Covenant

by orphan_account



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Aftercare, Anastrasya is a Vampire, Anastrasya is almost certainly not acting in character, Blasphemy, Blood Drinking, Can I make it anymore obvious?, Church Sex, Consensual But Not Safe Or Sane, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, Explicit Consent, F/F, F/M, Face-Sitting, Human/Vampire Relationship, Humiliation, I'm Going to Hell, Improper Use of Catholic Rituals, Infidelity, Ireena is a Paladin, Lawful Evil Anastrasya, Lesbian Sex, Neutral Good Ireena, Oral Sex, Prayer, Safewords, Sex is not taboo, Slow Burn, Song: Hellfire (Disney), Vampire Bites, Vampire Sex, and so are the characters, but that's my DM's problem not mine, for good reason, gay woman escapes dudebro who cant take a hint, i rewrote a disney song for this and its less horny than the original, omfg Church Sex is already a tag you horny fucks, omg why is Strahd such a creep, orgasm breaks concentration that's canon now, sex between women is not taboo, sex with vampires very much is taboo, the safeword is 'smite' because she's a paladin lol, trying to find love while being stalked by a vampire lord
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:54:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29937180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ireena Kolyana loves women, Strahd can't seem to take the hint, and as a paladin of righteousness she's never been defeated in single combat.When she meets a woman clad in scarlet who could crush her like a bug, it is like seeing the Morninglord's light for the first time. But then she sees that woman, that vampire, brought low by the Count. Watching such a powerful, beautiful woman submit to him makes Ireena furious and lights a fire within her for the one who is called Anastrasya.
Relationships: Ireena Kolyana/Anastrasya
Kudos: 3





	Blood of the Covenant

Ireena stood on the steps of the Church of St. Andral as the vampire loomed in the air above them. The cursed creature floated above the adventuring party surrounded by her spawn below. Clad in a scarlet dress with an enormous collar that flared from her neck like the petals of a rose, her slender form was backlit by the orange overcast sky. The sun had just set on Vallaki, and Ireena’s fear welled up within her but she swallowed it down with a brief celestial prayer. If it was her time to die, then Morninglord guide her soul.

The vampire’s eyes, searching from within that sunken, pale face, met hers. There was anger there, a rage that Ireena knew in her core was personal somehow, but there was also the deepest pain. An immeasurable heartbreak. The briefest flash of sorrow, perhaps even a shed tear, if such a creature were even capable of such a thing.

And then she spoke.

“You witch! You have stolen his heart from me, and now you shall pay!”

In a flash, the vampire descended as her spawn charged them, the five brave souls huddled in the entrance to the church. No longer sanctified ground, it offered no protection from the unholy. With sword and shield against fang and claw, Ireena and the adventurers that had appeared in Barovia some days before knew they could not hope to hold the line against such evil. The spawn quickly scaled the walls around the twenty foot tall church doors and surrounded them while their matron clashed against Ireena’s battle stance.

Ireena felt the exhilaration of combat mix with the fear of death as her shield was smashed to kindling and ripped from her arm. The vampire was so close now, too close, but there was nowhere to go. Wrestling her arm away to force an opening, the vampire in her scarlet dress lunged for Ireena’s neck.

“Anastrasya!”

A voice boomed from above like thunder, as a flash of light split open the overcast clouds above and prompted them to suddenly drop their burden of rain. The vampire and the holy woman froze in an intimate embrace, deathly fangs inches from a neck that pulsed with vivid life. Although not similarly ensorcelled, still for the briefest of moments Ireena could not find it in herself to push away. Perhaps it was the shock, stunned like a deer in the light of a lantern. Perhaps, and she tried very hard to bury this feeling as deep down as she could, but perhaps something about her exposed nature while pressed against this beautiful and dangerous woman reminded her of long-abandoned desire.

Training and self-preservation kicked in quickly, however, and Ireena shoved the cursed creature away. She remained frozen, fangs bared, and fell backwards. Her scarlet dress fluttered to settle on her stiff form only a moment after her spawn met the same fate. Not dead, but forced unmoving.

Above rang the voice of the Count of Barovia, astride a black horse with a mane of flames. “You have disobeyed me, Anastrasya. You were to leave Tatyana alone.” He had the look of a man who owned all he laid his eyes upon, and the cold anger in those blood red eyes softened as their possessive gaze fell upon Ireena. He used that name again, that one that he called her when he visited her in the night and drank her blood. It made her stomach churn. The thaw in his eyes did not last long, but a glance before his attention returned to the vampire who was still frozen on the ground.

Suddenly she went limp, her magical restraint undone, but the fight had been driven from her. Immediately she turned her back on Ireena, on her knees in supplication.

The one who was called Anastrasya stuttered and begged, “P- Please, my love, forgive me. I did this only for us, for you! Can you not see that she- she has brought to bear some frightful magick to tear-”

“Silence.”

And there was silence.

Ireena, the terror of death not quite drained from her, looked down upon the one who was called Anastrasya. The one who had nearly killed her. The one who had bested her in single combat, the first to do so in eight years. Not since she was but a teen who trained the sword and shield and spear in complete disregard of her adoptive father the Burgomaster. There she begged, and it was wrong. Wrong that someone so powerful would kneel in submission to a creature with such poison in his heart.

“For your disobedience, you shall be punished. A decade or two in the crypts should teach you.”

With a gesture of his hand the spawn rose, like marionettes, and seized Anastrasya. Her silence seemed to end then, because as she was dragged away towards the castle in the distance, she continued to scream her apologies and beg forgiveness.

Before the vampire’s screams had even faded into the distance, Count Strahd von Zarovich addressed the adventurers.

“My apologies on behalf of my wife-” 

The word made Ireena’s heart fall from her chest to her gut, and she missed some of what came next.

“-was most unbecoming behavior towards our guests. As recompense, I cordially invite you to dinner at Castle Ravenloft tomorrow evening. I’d like to show you all what my lands can offer. Especially you, my flower,” he said, his possessive gaze falling once again on Ireena. “You will be under my protection if you join me, and I assure you it would be unwise to deny me.”

Like a man who had said his piece and expected no disagreement, he turned his flaming steed towards the castle that was his throne and rode away across the sky. He left behind him a stunned band of adventurers, a newly formed squall of rain, and the faint smell of brimstone.

**.** **.** **.**

That night, Ireena dreamed. It started as a memory, the one of her picking up a sword that her adoptive brother Ismark was meant to train with. It was a small wooden thing, but it felt right. Fial laughed and she almost dropped it, the blonde girl being a year her senior and therefore The Authority on how they and the few other girls in the village ought to behave. However when Ireena looked the girl was playful, not derisive. She even picked up a stick and held it towards Ireena, a clear challenge in her eye despite her smile. It did not last, Fial’s mother shouted from across the field and her face fell with her weapon. Ireena’s fist held fast.

Then things shifted, in that sudden and yet unnoticeable way that dreams do, and Ireena knew that she was older, as was Fial. They both leaned against the side of a barn to look out over the same field now freshly sown with potatoes and they spoke of fate and future.

“Father means to marry me to the Lojza boy. The one what moved from Krezk. They say he slew a wolf on Svalich road, coming here.”

“I could slay a wolf!” Ireena said quickly, before quieting in embarrassment.

“Aye, you likely could,” Fial said, though her tone was more distracted than amused. It made Ireena wonder. Wonder at why Fial never took her seriously. Despite being undefeated in sword sparring for two years now. Despite having better and prettier armor than anyone else in the village, a concession her father the Burgomaster had made when he realized Ireena would go seeking danger with or without it. Despite being everything that Fial seemed to want in a boy, except that one little thing.

She was a girl. And so her accidental confession of jealousy was overlooked, seen as nothing but her usual competitiveness. It was time to be plain about it.

“Fial, I like you,” she said, with enough conviction that the girl turned and stared. Her heart hammered in her chest. “I like you, and I want to know- if you could like me please, or not.”

She almost grimaced at her words but as they emerged from her she stood by them. The look Fial gave her was terrifying in its complexity. There was no disgust, no revulsion at the idea, but there was confusion, and even embarrassment of her own. That made Ireena’s stomach flutter with hope that she dared not let grow, lest it spoil and poison her.

The awkward silence between them grew until Ireena asked, “Could you? Maybe not yet, but if you thought about it? I- I’m bigger and stronger than Lojza despite being younger, and he won’t spar with me but I bet I could beat him. And he wouldn’t understand things like- like how you don’t like flowers ‘cuz they make you sneeze, and-”

She was cut off as Fial kissed her.

Then the dream changed again, Ireena felt the lips against her grow cold, and she opened her eyes to see Anastrasya was the one she held close. The woman drew back to survey her, then pecked at the corner of her mouth. Her cheek. Her jaw. Ireena’s stomach flipped again, this time with an entirely less innocent impulse, as the woman pressed tender lips to the pulse of her neck. And she moaned as the vampire gently but deliberately bit down to draw her blood.

**.** **.** **.**

The holy woman of the Morninglord greeted the dawn’s light with a shameful squirm, knowing in an instant as she woke her state of desire. Never one to be ashamed of her body or its pleasures, for once she felt the need for forgiveness, for redemption, that her mind had become so inhabited by a creature of evil. Ireena was not even sure if she should pray as it would only draw the Morninglord’s attention to her, and how could he bear witness to her state and not know her corruption.

Her adventuring party had at least noticed something, as the lone fellow human asked, “Uh, you okay Ireena?”

“Yeah, sorry, just a, um. . . just a dream.”

“Oh.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh come off it, I’ve removed an arrow from your backside and you’ve eased a boar tusk from my gut, we’re past squeamishness I think.” And with that they set about their day, donning armor, readying weapons, and travelling towards the Castle that every elder and instinct Ireena had ever had warned her away from.

There was discussion as they traveled as to whether accepting the Count’s invitation was wise. It was not.

But neither was provoking the Count’s ire, so the adventurers did it anyway. They made their way to the Pillarstone, upon which Castle Ravenloft was built. Along the way they wondered at their fates. Why were they brought through the mists to this strange place, with its undead lord? Ireena, who had never known anything but Barovia village in the castle’s ominous shadow, told them as much as she could.

Strangers were not uncommon. They would arrive from faraway lands confused as to how they got here, and one way or another they always strode up to the castle, never to be seen or heard from again. She was unsure if they were commonly invited, usually the tales that made it back to the village were of gallant warriors riding forth to free the land of its tyrant. 

That did not explain the Count’s unique interest in her, nor the vampire Anastrasya’s whom the Count had called wife. Ireena sensed the unspoken questions, and although she did not want to broach the subject, she had fought alongside them, and they beside her, and they deserved the truth.

“Last night was not the first time I have seen the count,” she confessed to them, along the road. “It started some months ago. I’ve always felt. . . trapped here in Barovia. Everyone does. But, well, the village seemed smaller and smaller as the years passed. I know the tales of the Mists, and how those who venture into them find only a choking death. But, if we never see those who venture into them again, how do we know for sure? Maybe there was a chance.

“It was after another row with my adoptive father, the Burgomaster, about Fi- about someone I once knew. I had had enough of the village, and I thought anything would be better than fearfully wasting away in the shadow of a tyrannical vampire. So I fled into the mists and hoped I would emerge on the other side to a better fate than the one that awaited me here.

“I was very wrong. Trees, naked of leaves and large enough around to block my path, seemed intent on making impossible any hope of keeping direction. Before long I was utterly lost and I felt my lungs grow labored. I thought then that it was over, and my convictions fell away like shattered porcelain. I realized I had been rash, and that I did not want to die. With what I thought would be my last breaths, I prayed. It was not the first time I prayed, but it  _ was _ the first time I asked for forgiveness, for redemption. I asked the Morninglord though I could not see him, I asked my father though he was not there.

“They were not who answered. He appeared, standing still and silent as if he had been there all along and I had simply not noticed him. The Count, I knew at once. Last night you saw his anger, but you have not truly spoken with him. He wields charm like a fencer wields a rapier, with efficient and devastating use. He told me what I wanted to hear. That I need not value myself upon the approval of that old bag who wanted me to be someone I was not. That I need not settle for the life of a Burgomaster’s daughter, barely a step above the peasants of his village. That I need not watch as the one I loved was brokered away like a pawn. I could find new love, everlasting love, and the power to guard it from anyone. You do not understand, his words were like the chirps of bluebirds I’ve only ever read about, after a lifetime of naught but the caws of the ravens.

“Before I knew it, he was close to me. Very close. His golden eyes were enchanting, and without thinking about it I tilted my head to one side, and he bit me. That was the first. It was surprisingly easy, at the time it did not hurt as much as you would think. He said he would be careful. Only later did I realize that I must have been under some sort of spell, some wicked charm. I felt used, and scared, and-.”

Ireena fell into silence then, unable to continue. It hurt that such a creature had been able to worm his way into her mind, to make her trust but for a moment. And it hurt more to share that she had fallen for it. And even greater was the shame that, though the temptation the Count had presented her was easily rejected in the cold light of day, she was not so easily rid of the sway that the vampire Anastrasya had put her under. She  _ wanted _ the crimson bride. That she did not mention for fear of stoking their mistrust, as warranted as it might prove to be.

There were a few words of reassurance from her comrades. The reminder that the Count was a supernatural horror the likes of which none of them had ever seen helped settle her worry. But not much, as there were also questions, questions she had invited in her explanation, yet could not answer. Why did they Count call her Tatyana? If she was adopted by the Borgomaster, where had she come from, and who were her parents? Why had the Count not simply let her die in the mists, like countless others before her?

A few hours later they arrived at Castle Ravenloft, where perhaps lay the answers.

**.** **.** **.**

They turned out to be a few hours early for dinner, as the Count would be joining them and he of course would not awaken until sundown. This they were told by a chilling elven manservant, who informed them they could wait in the guest chambers. Ireena’s curiosity got the best of her quickly, as it was not but ten yards before she asked, “Would it be possible to see Anastrasya? If I understand correctly, she was sent to the dungeons, and as we are the reason why she’s there I would think we’d have a right to question her.”

The elven manservant stopped and turned to her with an entirely amused expression. “It is the Crypts she was sent to, and make no mistake  _ the Master _ is the reason she was sent. But that being said, I see no reason why not, so long as you follow my directions precisely. The Master has decreed that no harm shall befall you tonight, and there are many, many dangers about the castle.” With the terms declared, the manservant Rahadin altered course.

He led them through a dilapidated chapel, then down the spiral stairs of a tower. The stairs concluded at one end of a passage, the walls of which were composed of brick tombs, each ten feet wide. Many of them held placards, illegible from dust and corrosion. Bats flitted about the crypts and a noxious white film covered the floor. Without hesitation, Rahadin turned right, leading the adventurers between rows and rows of crypts, each one offset from the previous such that once away from the central corridor one could not see in any direction for more than twenty feet. Eventually he stopped before one, no visible sign of a doorway or entrance of any kind. Just as he was about to speak, a terrible scream of anger and agony was heard, muted greatly through the layers of rock that separated them from the vampire Anastrasya.

The adventurers were shaken. They knew little of the conditions of a vampire, and less of their needs beyond the thirst for blood. But it was easy to imagine that going without it would be akin to starving. Judging by the permanent nature of the crypt she was in, the Count had made good on his promise to seal his wife away. There she would rot, starving of her thirst for blood but never being granted the mercy of death, until he deemed it differently.

Ireena realized that her comrades were looking at her, as she had initiated this endeavor. She swallowed once, then shouted, “Anastrasya! I am-”

“YOU! You auburn-haired whore of a human, you stole him and NOW YOU COME TO GLOAT AT MY DOWNFALL!”

“No, Anastrasya, I swear, I hope to get you out! I’ll- I will tell the Count that I forgive you for trying to kill me, that he can let you go, if you just answer some of my questions!”

“YOU LIE!”

“I don’t! I could not imagine a fate such as this, and I would not wish it upon anyone!”

There was a moment of quiet, then, “What do you wish to ask me, Tatyana!? I will answer truthfully, though you may not like what you hear!”

Ireena wondered for a moment. She had not actually thought this far ahead. There were so many questions, but as her comrades looked on, she decided quickly.

“The mists, I know it is possible to leave through them. The Vistani do it, and every year or so adventurers come in through them. How could one escape through the mists?”

“Those who leave do so at the will of The Master, and you will never have his leave to go! You will stay here as his little pet forever, and when he grows tired of you, I shall recapture his love once again!”

Her screams, already frightening, were becoming increasingly deranged.

“I think it best we leave her to her sentence, lest you sow even greater ire to reap when she is free,” Rahadin advised.

No one had any arguments, at least none they could form over the sound of Anastrasya’s continued screams and occasional manic laughter.

Significantly more disturbed than before, the adventurers let themselves be led to the guest quarters. There they awaited dinner.

**.** **.** **.**

Those who were not privileged enough to have garments appropriate for a lord’s table were loaned some. Although she hated it, Ireena was sufficiently privileged, and doffed her armor for her regal black and brown evening gown with white trim and frills. It reminded her of the few attempts her father had made of trussing her up, molding her into a proper young lady of the minor nobility. That had been the last straw for her, and she had made sure it would not happen again. Until now it seemed.

The thought of walking into a room with a vampire unarmed felt downright suicidal, however, so once she realized they still had more than an hour before dinner she took one of the straps from her greaves, unceremoniously hiked up her dress, and secured the sheath of her dagger to her inner thigh. It took a bit of fiddling to get it to sit right that some of her companions balked at, but she only rolled her eyes. There are certain degrees of modesty that should be dissolved once one has placed the light of the Morninglord into a wound across another’s bleeding chest to keep them from dying.

At precisely eight o’clock Rahadin fetched them and led them downstairs. It was not long before they heard the sound of a melancholy organ in the distance, and the dark music swelled as they drew closer. They were brought to a dinning hall bisected by a grand table laid out with empty plates and myriad cutlery. At the end of the hall was an organ with great brass lungs, its keys caressed by none other than Count Strahd von Zarovich himself. Wordlessly Rahadin led them to chairs at the table; the adventurers down one side, Ireena at its head opposite the count. As they were arranged, the music was brought to a crescendo like a ship cresting the final wave of a ferocious storm. Then the Count rose and turned.

“Greetings, my most welcome quests. I hope your stay has been... accommodating. Please, be seated. I would like to introduce you to the family.”

He clapped and a door different from the one they had entered opened. Four figures emerged. First a tall, dark skinned woman in a brilliant white dress and a golden crown. Then Anastrasya, and Ireena’s heart leapt, wearing her blood red gown with matching long gloves that left her shoulders bare. She was followed by a shorter woman, clad in ocher with a mask of bone. Lastly was a man in a prim suit of purple and sporting a blond mane of hair that framed a handsome face.

“This is Ludmilla, Anastrasya, Volenta, and Escher; my wives and consorts.” They bowed at the adventurers with varying degrees of sincerity. Ludmilla swept a measuring gaze over them without emotion. Anastrasya glared at Ireena. Volenta looked at them with playful interest, the way a cat looks upon a mouse it has already trapped. Escher gave a small smirk.

The adventurers sat along one side of the table. The wives and consorts sat along the other. Strahd sat at the head of the table, and Ireena opposite him.

The dinner started with drinks being served, the adventurers with wine and the vampires with a burgundy liquid that could only be blood. A shiver passed through the adventurers at that.

This started the dance of tongues, as the dinner’s conversation was something like a tightrope for the adventurers. They were presented with a unique opportunity to ask questions, to glean information that might prove advantageous once battle were to start. But press too hard or lack respect for the Count and they would lose this reprieve he was granting them. And all the while, Strahd needled them with questions of his own, things personal but just innocuous enough to seem innocent in their intent.

During the feast, Ireena made due on her promise to forgive Anastrasya. The memory of the woman’s voice growing deranged from the other side of a cold stone wall was motive enough, and she hoped to spare the vampire that fate. Strahd was silent for a moment before announcing that he would take her opinion into consideration. His eyes schemed, however, and Ireena wondered at his intentions. She could only hope that her words would help Anastrasya.

Following dinner, Strahd rose and declared there would be a ball as well. Ireena watched longingly as one of her companions was directed to Anastrasya’s arm. She only broke away to flinch as she realized that Strahd himself had approached her and was reaching for her.

“Now now, my dearest, no need to fear. I’ll not hurt you.” With a firm hand he took her arm and wrapped his around it, then he led them from the hall and into a room that had an open dancefloor and instruments that floated above. Once in position, the ball began.

Ireena weathered Strahd’s inquisitive advances, his attempts at appealing to her pride and her sentiment. His words painted pictures of her a queen at his side, a ruler over this dreadful land. She did not let on that she had no lust for power, nor did she hold anything but disgust for this land that choked with death.

Finally, as the last song came to a crescendo, the vampire spun her around, and as the music stopped he pulled her against him. Ireena recoiled but even her impressive strength was not enough to resist him guiding her body close. She feared for a moment he would force a kiss on her, or worse, a bite. But instead he looked at her with greed in his eyes and said, “Tatyana, will you be my wife?”

Even though he had not been overly loud, she knew that all in the ballroom had heard his words. She felt the dagger cinched against her thigh. If she denied him, this was it. They would fight. She was the only one armed, and that was with but a knife. None of them were armored. Every one was within the grasp of a vampire. They would be slaughtered, and she would be turned against her will.

Or she could accept. Play his game a little longer, maybe find a better opportunity to cast the dice with their lives as the wager. At the very least she could kick their fates further down the road. Would the Morninglord fault her dishonesty?

“I- I will.”

His eyes narrowed. His lip started to curl. She had heard the doubt, the lie in her voice, and it was easy to see that Strahd had as well. What hope she had of putting their gruesome fate off was evaporating before her eyes.

Before he could say anything, could process what to do next, she reached up to cup his cheek, closed her eyes, and pushed herself up onto her toes. With a conviction born of Ireena’s will to live, she brought her lips to his.

He was cold, dead, but unlike the times before Ireena did not feel revulsion. This was because, with her eyes closed tight, she was lost in the thought of what it would be like to be pressed against a different pair of cold lips. In her mind she held Anastrasya’s gaunt face to hers. It was because of this there was a real spark.

Strahd did not know this, but he could feel the passion the woman against him bore, and it was enough to assuage whatever doubts he had about her wholly unconvincing acceptance to his proposal.

They broke apart. Ireena opened her eyes to bitter reality. Strahd slowly smiled, which made her revulsion come back full force. She did not let it show on her face.  


"Then I suppose I have arrangements to make. Goodnight, love."

Each vampire stepped away from their partner in unison and bowed to them, then they all dissolved into mist. The adventurers were left alone.

**.** **.** **.**

They made their way back to the guest quarters with a million questions. What were they going to do? Was Ireena serious? Strahd’s protection lasted until morning, should they leave now to get a head start? Where would they go? Was anyone else extremely creeped out by what just happened?

It was quickly decided that they would need rest if they were to run from the vampires in the morning, so it would be best to get some sleep now while they could.

Ireena knew she would not be able to sleep, as confused and conflicted as she was by the day’s events. She told the other’s she needed some space, then took a candle and took her leave from the relative safety of the guest chambers. She descended the stairs and made her way to the chapel that they had seen in their travels though the castle at Rahadin’s lead earlier that day. It was ruined and unlit now, an unsettling place, but she took a few moments to go around and light the remaining candelabra. Its half-empty stained glass windows showed that it was once a place to worship the Morninglord.

In the dim light of the candles she kneeled before the lopsided altar to her god. As she did the flickering flames cast shadows across the walls that looked like a bride afloat against an evening sky. So many confusing thoughts roiled within her. Pride that she had managed her deception of the Count. Fear that it had only delayed the inevitable. Devastating loss that she would soon be turned, and her mind would no longer be hers. Shame that her own free will was not even the thing she mourned the most. Jealousy that the object of her affection was hopelessly in love with someone else. Disgust that the one she had lost Anastrasya to was the Count of all people, long before she even knew this game of hearts was being played. And lust despite it all, a desire that was stoked by the illusion of Anastrasya’s form swaying and dancing in the shadows.

In celestial, she prayed:

_ Hear me, St. Andral, you know I took a righteous oath _

_ With sword held high, I bring your shining light _

_ Hear me, St. Andral, you know how very much I loath _

_ This scourge that spreads by their unholy bite _

_ Then tell me, St Andral! Why I see her dancing there? _

_ Why her hungering eyes still scour my soul? _

_ I feel her, I see her. The night caught in her raven hair _

_ Is poisoning me out of all control _

_ Like darkness! Cursed darkness! _

_ A cold touch on my skin _

_ Her passion, while heartless _

_ Is turning me to sin! _

_ It's not my fault _

_ I'm not to blame _

_ It is this vampire _

_ The witch who stole my flame! _

_ It's not my fault _

_ Her enchanting eyes _

_ Have clutched my heart _

_ And brought me my demise! _

_ Protect me, St. Andral! _

_ Don't let this vixen spread her blight _

_ Don't let her curse corrupt my flesh and bone _

_ Destroy Anastrasya! _

_ And burn her in your holy light! _

_ Or else let her be mine, and mine alone! _

By the end she was bellowing her pleas, her prayer to a saint who rarely heard her, to a god who rarely cared. If they had her plight had been deemed unworthy of rescue from it. Tears streaked down her face, a testament to the force of her emotion.

A clatter behind her broke her reverie and the shadows that transfixed her suddenly spun around the room. In a swift motion Ireena drew the dagger from her thigh and turned to face the threat.

There, no longer made of smoke and shadow but real and present, was Anastrasya, standing over a candelabra that she had clearly tipped over on purpose. The remaining sources of light cast her gaunt cheekbones and the curves of her scarlet dress in striking contours.

Ireena froze, knife still held between them. A moment passed before the vampire woman spoke.

“You need not stop on my account. I may not understand the words, but I can’t help but notice when someone shouts my name in the middle of the night. Tell me, was that a song, a prayer, or a wish you were making?”

Ireena’s mouth went dry at the thought of explaining her prayer. One hand left her weapon to quickly dry her cheeks of their tears. After a moment she produced a half truth, “I was begging St. Andral and the Morninglord to give me strength.”

“Oh, what for? To destroy me and steal my husband?” Anastrasya said it so sweetly that it almost wasn’t an accusation.

“No. I want nothing to do with the Count. This thing you hate me for I would cast away without a second thought.”

“Then why agree to marry him?”

“It was die then and there, or live to fight another day. Living is a hard habit to break.”

Anastrasya took a slow step forward. Ireena could feel herself falling into those crimson eyes and  she knew she was in true danger. Drawing upon the divine magic of the Morninglord, she repeated part of her prayer, still in celestial.

“Protect me, St. Andral! Don’t let this vixen spread her blight!”

She was immediately wreathed in holy light as the spell took hold, protecting her from the beguiling powers of evil.

The vampire paused in her approach, then smiled. “Oh how exciting. I’ve never had someone resist my gaze before. This makes things so much more interesting."   


The vampire’s face had shifted slightly, from the manic glint in her eye to an almost pensive expression.   


“We can smell you, you know. It is one of the benefits of the transformation. It makes sense, hunters need to be able to track their prey. We know your fear. Your lies. Your. . . arousal.”

Ireena could not help but notice that dampness against her thighs that betrayed her. Still she held her weapon ready.

“Tell me, Ireena, why I find you here in the chapel praying for strength, with my name upon your lips and lust between your legs? Do I tempt you?”

With those last words, Anastrasya did something that stole Ireena’s breath away. She reached up to the silver broach at her throat and there was a _click_. It came apart in two pieces, revealing an imperceptible slit down the front of the dress that it cinched together. With a slow tug she drew a dainty zipper down to the point where we breasts came together, then stopped.

There was a pause.

"Oh, I must have been mistaken, you don't want me," the vampire said, and she began to pull it back up again.

Thoughts raced in Ireena's head, of the danger, of the improbable opportunity, of the reckoning there would be with the Morninglord if she were to succumb to such vice, it all was crowded out by a desire to do whatever it would take to make that zipper fall lower. It was not a magical impulse, she was entirely immune to that now. No, it was pure seduction, and Ireena was in no state to resist it.

The auburn-haired woman lowered her weapon and said, “I do.”

The zipper paused in its ascent. “You do what. Ireena?”

“I do want you.”

Anastrasya held her arms towards the paladin, leaving her dress partially undone, and said, “Then come get me.”

There was still a primal instinct in the back of Ireena’s mind that was screaming not to step forward. Not to bring them together, lest she leave herself vulnerable to attack and be immediately killed by this predatory creature. She did not listen to it.

The paladin dropped her weapon to the floor and gently closed the distance between their lips, her stomach fluttering with delight at the contact. It felt like she was washing the stain of Strahd from her lips with that first touch, cleansing away the remaining feelings of revulsion she had at the act. This was wrong, but it was also very, very right.

Ireena braced for the sudden strike, the fangs that would tear her throat from her body. She had committed this cardinal sin and she knew now she would pay the price for her weakness, for letting this evil creature come so close, past her guard. With a bittersweet sorrow in her heart, she accepted it.

The pain did not come. Instead Anastrasya shifted against her, a cold hand softly finding her shoulder to maneuver their kiss. The human opened her eyes to find the vampire had closed hers in the moment of their connection.

Holy light, this was actually happening. The vampire wanted her back.  


The last of Ireena’s reservations fell away. With her right hand suddenly at the vampire’s chest where her zipper remained exposed and her left on her hip she brought their bodies together. Even through both of their gowns it was like hugging an ice sculpture and she shivered. She turned her head into the kiss and ran her tongue over the woman’s frigid lips as she guided the scarlet dress apart. Soon alabaster mounds pointed up towards the heavens, announcing their mutual interest. Or so Ireena assumed. Vampires were dead, and always cold, would the peaks upon their chests convey arousal?  


They broke apart and Ireena's gaze fell to Anastrasya's breasts. The vampire bore the weight of her stare with a chuckle.

“Hmmm, someone is eager.”

“Sorry,” Ireena said, eyes flicking back to her love's.  


“Don’t be,” the vampire said, and with her supernatural strength she pushed Ireena backwards. Taken off guard, Ireena gave ground a few paces, then the back of her legs hit the lopsided altar. Delicately but forcefully she was placed on her back, with Anastrasya standing between her legs and looming over her. She was immediately breathless at the sight of the vampire's breasts dangling above her, at the feel of her abdomen pressing against her womanhood.

“Here is how this is going to go, Ireena. I am going to take you. I am going to make you mine right here on the altar of your god. You can fight it all you want, protest at this salaciousness, plead for a divinity to save you. But no matter what happens, if you say ‘smite’ I _will_ stop. If you do not say 'smite', I  _ will not _ stop. Do you understand?”

The paladin’s mind was overcome with lustful images of what the vampire was promising. It was hard to form words so she nodded but that didn’t seem to be good enough.

“What do you say if you truly want me to stop?”

“Smite!”

“That’s right. You’re such a good girl. No wonder you need someone to show you how to be bad.”

Suddenly Anastrasya had claws, and with one dangerous hand she grasped Ireena’s head to pull her in for another kiss. With the tip of a single claw from the other hand she caressed, trailing the point down from behind one ear, over her delicate neck, before finally sliding the dull back of the claw down between Ireena’s breasts. There was a slight tug, and then Ireena’s dress fell open, neatly slit from collar to hem.

Ireena gasped. “I- Anastrasya, how will I return to-”

“I don’t know,” the scarlet woman above her said. “That sounds like the sort of problem a slut who gave herself to a vampire would have. And you will call me mistress or you will be punished, do you understand?”

Ireena could only nod, her mind twisted into lustful knots at Anastrasya’s brazenness, her lack of concern for if Ireena was seen as. . . sinful. She could not bring herself to think of herself in that way.

Again, her nod was insufficient. “Use your words. What do you call me?”

“Mistress,” she said, and it all clicked together. Saying the word brought tears to her eyes again, a rush of catharsis at the feel of it on her tongue. She was fully letting go by saying it. Anastrasya would do unspeakable things to her, and it wouldn’t be her fault. Ireena would even fight her, try and stop her, but they both knew she would fail. Because she wanted to fail. That feeling of relief, of being unshackled from shame because it would no longer be her fault, was overwhelming.

Ireena could not help but sob at the sudden upwelling of emotion, and Anastrasya retracted her claws and wrapped her cold arms around her and held her.

When her shaking subsided, the vampire pulled away and said, “Are you ready?” The look she gave said everything.

She wiped tears away with her palm. “No. You can’t do this to me, I am a servant of the light.”

Then Anastrasya waited, turning her head slightly to reveal an ear, to show she was listening. Ireena had two options. She could say ‘smite’ or she could say ‘Mistress.’ She decided to double down on her protestation, really try and convince herself of it.

“I will never allow you to corrupt me, Mistress of the night. I am under St. Andral’s protection!”

The vampire bared her fangs.

“No saint or god will protect you. I will do with you what I like.”

Ireena felt herself be lifted and dragged closer to the edge of the altar, so her butt was only half on and her legs were forced to widen around the woman between them. Then she felt the delicious pleasure as her Mistress leaned forward, rubbing herself over Ireena’s womanhood.

“Tisk tisk. You will not wear underthings anymore. I don’t like how they get in the way, understood?” Anastrasya punctuated her words with a  _ slice _ and Ireena had no more barriers left. She was exposed, lying with her legs spread before a vampire.

Ireena had been wet with arousal since before Anastrasya had even shown up, but that moment was the point where she could not take the lack of stimulation anymore. She reached down to touch herself. One torn side of her underthings was still around her left leg, but she pushed it aside to press her hand against her womanhood.

Something seized her self-pleasuring hand, then the other, and her arms were brought together.

“Hold one finger out,” her Mistress commanded. She did so, curling her hands into fists except for her left pinky finger. Anastrasya opened her mouth and Ireena prepared to scream ‘smite’ if she was going to be bitten. That would be too far.  


The vampire carefully licked up the finger, then sensually took it into mouth but Ireena felt no trace of her fangs. Then Anastrasya said, “You didn’t answer me. You won’t wear underthings anymore, because I command it. Right?”

“But I have to wear underthings, Mistress. Else someone might see up my skirts, or through my dress which you have torn asunder.”

“You would deny them the knowledge of what a slut you are? You would defy my orders?” She sighed. “Well it seems you will have to be punished, then,” she said as she pinned her two hands to the stone above her with just one, flaunting her supernatural strength.

Ireena watched as she was enveloped by red. Still holding her hands tightly, her Mistress climbed up onto the altar above her, then continued up even further. She watched as with her free hand her Mistress took the hem of her scarlet dress and lifted it up over Ireena’s head, and once darkness enveloped her she felt a cold thigh settle on either side of her head.

“You are going to pleasure me for your insubordination, so you understand that you are mine and my orders are to be followed.” Then those cold thighs lowered and Anastrasya’s womanhood pressed against her lips in the most intimate of kisses. It seemed her Mistress did not bother with underthings either.

Ireena was not completely inexperienced in this art, but what she had learned over the course of a summer in a barn with Fial had been experimental, and that knowledge had been given a few years to rust.

Still, she tried, poking her tongue out to run it along her Mistress’s folds. She delved inside, tasting a nectar that was both sweet and metallic, then flicked up towards the apex of her womanhood to find that wonderful nub of pleasure. It was a lot harder to do in the dark under her Mistress’s skirts.

After a few minutes of trying she coaxed out the first moan. Another and she felt the first drop of moisture, and though no one could see she flushed at how depraved it was to have a woman’s arousal drip onto her face. Worse, she was the one to have worked for that drop, she  _ earned _ it. A particularly skillful movement of her tongue and Ireena felt her Mistress’s hand on her head. She imagined she must look quite silly holding a round protrusion beneath her dress, so Ireena dared to pull away and ask a question.

“Mistress, could I see you?”

“You want me to remove my dress? Here in the chapel, like some licentious slut? No, your punishment is that you will be used like you deserve. Now stick your tongue out.” With that her Mistress brought herself down on Ireena’s mouth and she began to ride the paladin’s face.

Ireena yearned for contact, for release, but she was denied as a vampire used her tongue for her pleasure. She made it easier for her, holding her tongue out even as her jaw began to grow sore.

She was getting to the point where she really might need to call ‘smite’ just from the strain on her jaw when her Mistress shuddered above her. Ireena tasted that sweet iron nectar again as Anastrasya brought herself over the edge with her tongue. Only then did she realize that her lover’s diet might explain why her flavor was more metallic than Fial’s had been. As overcome with lust as she was, the impact of that thought was dampened.  


The vampire rolled off of her and Ireena had to blink at even the low light of the few candelabra. Her Mistress released her hands and she immediately rubbed at the hinges of her jaw. She moved to sit up but her Mistress’s voice stopped her.

“Stay. I like you splayed out like that,” Anastrasya said as she came back around to stand between her legs again. “Did you learn your lesson?”

Heart hammering, with a soaring hope that she would have her service rewarded with what she had been denied up until then, Ireena said, “Yes, Mistress.”

The effect was immediate. Her lover brought their bodies together, rubbing her dress-clad abdomen against Ireena’s core. She exclaimed her pleasure in a wordless moan. Then it was cut off as Anastrasya claimed her mouth, still wet from being used as it had.

A hand found its way into the torn remnants of her dress to cup her breast. It didn’t have claws this time. After a minute of them writhing their bodies together the vampire pinched her nipple, then let go and trailed her hand down towards the crux of her legs.

“Are you ready, Ireena?”

“Yes. . .” she moaned.

“Are you ready to fall apart for me?”

“Yes!”

Anastrasya’s hand ghosted lower, tracing over auburn curls.

“Are you ready for me to fuck you?”

“Please, yes!”

The rhythm of their bodies together didn’t change a bit, but the vampire slipped her hand between them and with every roll against each other she put pressure on that beautiful bud at the peak of Ireena’s womanhood. The friction felt splendid, sending the paladin rocketing into a powerful orgasm. Her Mistress skillfully drew it out as long as possible as Ireena was reduced to a shuddering wreck. She stopped just as overstimulation was taking over, pulling her sticky hand away and then crawling up onto the altar to hold the woman while she put herself back together.

There would be time to figure out how things would stand, to codify the dynamics of their relationship. Anastrasya had been extremely successful in seducing the woman, in bringing her into the fold. Even with her resounding victory, however, the Count’s recent cruelties towards her had her considering her options. Particularly in regards to this newest group of adventurers and their sweetheart of a paladin.

That was a scheme for another time. Just then she had a woman to care for who was so lost in afterglow that she likely couldn’t remember her own name and coming off of what was almost certainly her first experience with domination. It was a delicate place to be, so she held her through it.

“Hey, it’s okay, you’re safe. You did great. You’re a very good girl, Ireena. You’re okay.”

The human dozed for a while, but the cold of Anastrasya’s undead body and the wetness that covered most of her lower half was uncomfortable enough that it kept her from drifting away. Ireena started to shiver, then very pointedly turned just her head away from the vampire. There was no doubt, she was willingly exposing her neck. The scars of two previous bites were clearly visible silver crescents.

“Ireena, you’re safe. I’m not going to bite you.”

The human turned back, eyes wide and searching. Anastrasya realized then that her climax had broken Ireena's concentration on her spell of protection. The vampire could let her gaze burrow into the woman's mind and make her a puppet, but she had neither the desire not the need. Ireena was hers by choice, and that was confirmed with her next words.  


“Why, Mistress?”

“Do you want me to? No, actually don’t answer that right now, you’re in no fit state to consent to it.”

Anastrasya did not expect the hurt on the paladin’s face.

“Ireena, I’m not rejecting you, now just. . . isn’t the time. Although why you would be eager for such a thing I don’t understand. You realize I could wholly conquer you if I did that, right? You would be mine in mind  _ and _ body, a puppet with no ability to deny me. At the very least, that would take a lot of the fun out of next time.”

The auburn-haired woman flushed at the mention of  _ next time _ , but seemed determined to get past it to make her point.

“I know," Ireena said. "But. . . it’s just that, when we kissed, it was so- It was like you were washing him off my lips, like you were cleansing me. I was glad. It took the revulsion I had for kissing and fixed it, replaced it with the desire that’s supposed to be there.” Her hand reached up and traced along the scars where Strahd had bitten her. “It would almost be like, like you sucking his poison out of me. I’d finally be free of him. Of. . . men.”

“Ireena, having someone drink your blood isn't supposed to make you feel desire.”

She squirmed in the vampire’s arms, and the fresh scent of arousal hit the air.

“No, but it could. . .” she said, before catching and holding her hungry, scarlet eyes again.

That was all the vampire could take.

“You’re absolutely sure? Say ‘smite’ at any time and I will stop.”

“I’m sure, Mistress.”

“Banes and curses, you’ll be the end of me for sure,” she said, before rolling Ireena over onto her stomach. The paladin lay naked beneath her, unsure if she should turn to look or stay still to make it easier. It was a strange mix of cute, sexy, and appetizing. Anastrasya gave her one more moment to say the safeword, and when she didn’t she pressed herself to Ireena’s bare spine and closed her mouth over the side of her neck. She bit, hard enough to prompt a trickle of delicious blood. Her taste was exquisite. Anastrasya had always preferred to savor her meals and did not draw too quickly. She also felt the magic of her curse attempting to take root within the woman. It was something that she felt compelled to do, but it was not required and she held it back.

Within seconds, Ireena was moaning in pleasure and pressing her rear up against Anastrasya. The vampire reached around to the human’s dripping sex and her knowing touch made Ireena twitch beneath her. Anastrasya detached from her neck and immediately red trails drained from the fresh wound to run down Ireena’s front. She rubbed at her meal's womanhood all the while.  


“How will it look when you return to your friends?” she whispered in the paladin’s ear. “Your dress sliced down the middle, your underthings gone, dried blood upon your neck and breasts, your legs covered in your lust and your face covered in mine. You really are a horny little slut. I claim you for my own Ireena Kolyana, and anyone who lays their eyes upon you will know I fucked you.”

She put her mouth to the human’s neck again and drank. Her hand was working Ireena’s sex with a slow rhythm, but either she was still sensitive from her orgasm a few minutes ago, her words had struck harder than she thought they would, or the bite  _ really _ did it for the human because she felt Ireena shudder again. The muscles beneath her mouth undulated as the paladin announced her pleasure with a breathless moan. The vampire kept her fingers consistent while Ireena rode out her second climax. With her release, she collapsed beneath her Mistress.  


Anastrasya stopped her meal there, not wanting to take too much lest she put the poor human in a coma after everything she had been through that day. She cut a strip of fabric from Ireena’s already torn dress and put it to her neck, whispering in her ear as she did so.

“That was the last of it, I pulled him out of you and he doesn’t have any hold on you any more. You’re free now, Ireena. You’re a good girl and you’re okay and you’re free.”

Enveloped in the gentle arms and tender words of her Mistress, Ireena fell asleep. Her exhaustion was so complete that not even the cold could keep her among the wakeful.  


**.** **.** **.**

Anastrasya had watched the better part of two centuries pass the dread land of Barovia by. Only twenty seven of them had been as a mortal. Time and terror had taken its toll upon her, but it had also given her lots of time to learn. Magic was something she had dabbled in, browsing through the tomes of spells that some of the adventurers would have on them.

Thus, when Ireena began to shiver in her sleep, naked and with the remains of her dress the only barrier between her human body and the cold altar, the vampire muttered an incantation and with a wave of her hand a dome appeared around them. From outside it no one would be able to see them, and more importantly the chill of the Barovian night was banished in place of perpetual warmth.

She could not heal the bite on the human’s neck, but it had stopped bleeding. The vampire was surprised when Ireena shifted in her sleep, snuggling herself closer now that Anastrasya’s cold body was no longer uncomfortable.

Anastrasya gazed upon the woman, lines of burgundy running from her neck to her breasts where they had dripped and dried. Tufts of darkness failing to hide the triangle where her sex still lay exposed, doing nothing to diminish the lingering scent of arousal. It was tantalizing.

She could still make due on her insinuation that Ireena would have to walk back to her friends, tattered dress clutched around her as a poor concealment of the evidence of her lust. The idea was appealing, and she knew it had stoked the woman’s desire. But Strahd had certain opinions on how Ireena should be viewed. He valued the paladin's reputation as _his_ , in addition to her eventual submission to him. He had been very clear about that.  


After what Ireena had said about her bites, about that kiss, Anastrasya knew with a visceral certainty that she would never submit to Strahd, short of being turned and compelled to. She herself had succumbed to him for a time, long ago when she had really loved him. But with a look the Count could control her every action, and he used that power carelessly. That could only be endured so many times before the facade was irreparably damaged.

It would not be wise to reveal the damage, however. It was better to play along, to tell him what he wanted and in the way he wanted it. To prostrate and beg and plead and appeal to his ego.  


Their arrangement could change, though. Fast approaching might the chance to shift the balance of power in Barovia. When that chance came Strahd needed to finally be taken care of. Both for Anastrasya's own freedom of will, and so Ireena could be allowed to explore her submissive side properly. Strahd was tactical enough to use the woman’s infatuation against her, that's why the scarlet woman was there in the first place, but he was far too possessive to allow Ireena to experience even a fraction of what Anastrasya had in store for the paladin. Things she suspected the decadent human would greatly enjoy.  


With the help of these adventurers perhaps a new night could reign. A night clad in a scarlet dress, with the sweetheart of Barovia at her feet as her champion of lust.  



End file.
